


queen of the savannah

by cosmoscrow



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Homesickness, Hurt/Comfort, I swear, I'm Sorry, Sad lance, blue lion to the rescue, but now i made lance sad, i almost cried when writing this, i am weak, it wasn't supposed to be that deep, just let this boy go home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-08-10 02:59:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7827739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmoscrow/pseuds/cosmoscrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which the bond between lion and paladin runs deeper than just linked minds. Lance knows, he's there often.<br/>Well, wherever <em>there</em> is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	queen of the savannah

**Author's Note:**

> I GOT THIS IDEA DURING A TRAIN RIDE WHILE LISTENING TO MUSIC
> 
> also, i can actually relate to Lance on this a lot. i might've shed a few tears.

When Lance opens his eyes, he knows he’s back.

Back in the vast field of tall, dry grass, the yellow strands softly rustling as a gentle breeze sweeps over them. He takes a deep breath.

The air is warm, earthy with a tinge of sunshine and free wilderness. The ground under him feels full of sun rays with dry dirt that crumbles underneath his curious fingers. Sitting up carefully, Lance takes in the familiar sight of the wild glory of the savannah around him.

Again, when he gets onto his feet, he notices how he’s shirtless and barefoot with pants being the only piece of cloth on his body. He glances up to the sky. There are almost no clouds, only vast open blue space, which shows no signs of ending anywhere soon. Lances wiggles his toes, relishing the feeling of them digging softly into loose earth.

Everything is calm. Everything is quiet.

For Lance, a person who comes alive in a crowd and contributes to the day to day noise, the quiet should make him feel uncomfortable. Maybe lonely even. But as he walks slowly through the tall grass and lets his hands glide between the yellow strands, he only feels content. In here, whatever ‘ _here_ ’ is — Lance feels calm. Protected. Relaxed. As if he doesn’t have to risk his life daily to protect the _entire_ galaxy. 

Don’t get him wrong, being a Paladin is great! He’s in space, travelling to worlds unseen before, meeting new people, who seem similar and yet so _different_ than him, and he gets to pilot a giant mechanic space cat while playing hero! That sounds pretty great to him. But even so, sometimes Lance just realises how _far_ away from Earth, from Home, from his family he actually is. Millions upon millions of lightyears away from his mother’s warm smile, his father’s gentle hair ruffles and his over affectionate siblings — his gaze lowers itself to the ground, watching how his feet step forward to an unknown destination.

The bright sun warms his neck, shoulders and back, but never burning him. He never broke out into sweat, never got thirsty, never got hungry. This place…always felt like _home_.

Sometimes Lance doesn’t know if he’s only dreaming or if this is happening for real. It always feels like mix between two different realities until he gets his answer when he blinks himself awake the next morning, feeling calm and melancholic. But still content.

He stops at the foot of a small hill. The grass travelling up the small bump in the field gets shorter as it surrounds an umbrella thorn tree in the centre of the hill. Lance lifts a foot, hovering hesitantly over the shorter grass of the hill. Then, he sets his foot down, beginning to stride uphill. The short grass blades tickle his soles as he reaches the tree. Gently, he puts his hand against the trunk, feeling the rough bark underneath his fingertips. He slides down carefully to sit with his back against the tree, legs splayed out in front of him.

Blue eyes look up to watch the green leaves sway softly in the wind. With their movement, they create new patterns of their shadow, black silhouettes changing rhythmically on Lance’s skin. He sits patiently.

And waits.

He doesn’t have to wait for long; a sudden deep roar echoes from a distance. It’s loud, yet not intimidating as Lance put his palm flat onto the ground, imagining the ground underneath vibrating with the force of the sound. Craning his neck down, he sets his gaze forward.

_There she is._

In midst of the pale yellow of the grass, there she strides towards him. Lance watches reverently how she almost lazily walks through the field, the grass almost parting around her willingly to let her through. She reaches the hill and no matter how many times Lance has already seen her, she still manages to take his breath away.

A lioness, standing proud on powerful legs with fur of the colour of the ocean. He would’ve laughed at the fact that she is blue, but the way her fur shimmers under the sunlight, looking like small rippling waves of clear water makes him almost choke on his words. She is beautiful, _powerful_ and yet, her piercing amber eyes regard him with such fondness, Lance could feel his heart flutter with affection.

She steps forward, ducking her head a little as Lance meets her halfway, butting his forehead against hers. She rumbles lowly in her throat. Fond and happy. Lance lets her rub and nip around his face and neck, chuckling a bit when she licks his ear affectionately. His hands find their way onto her neck, feeling the smooth texture of her fur — cool to touch, gliding over the hairs without any resistance, feeling like the surface of a calm river.

It reminds him of his summers at Varadero Beach; running over wet sand, splashing his shrieking siblings with salt water before he joins them on their seashell hunt. He remembers building sandcastles with his sister, announcing her the reigning princess and then proceeds to help his brothers bury his sleeping father underneath a hill of sand, cackling quietly at their mischief. He remembers the stern but amused look on his mother’s face, the clear laughter of his sisters as he pretends to be a mermaid, the gleeful screams of his brothers as he chases them with a mop of washed up kelp on his head, the late night barbecues with his family watching the sunset together — he doesn’t notice he’s crying until he feels the wetness on his cheeks.

Lance blinks, trying to stop the spill of salty tears but new ones well up with every memory he sees in his head. A sob escapes his lips before he can stop it. Blue rumbles lowly, feeling the desperate longing for his family tugging at her entire being. She carefully wounds around him as he curls up in himself, lying down onto her side and starts cradle her paladin gently. Lance slumps against her, burying his face into her cool fur as he hugs her as close as he can.

“I miss them, Blue.” He whispers into her pelt. “I miss them _so much_.”

The sad noise of the lioness vibrates through her as she leans down to nuzzle her paladin’s ear. Lance shifts his face to look at her, blue eyes sad and lonely. She presses her nose against his cheek, consoling him with small licks and providing him close company. The boy takes a deep breath, smelling fresh, salty air. He cards his fingers through the velvet water-like texture of her fur, when he hears her voice. Low, calm, dripping with love and care as she speaks to him;

_“Oh my paladin, my brightest star…I am here for you.”_

Despite the sadness in his heart, Lance finds himself smiling. He reaches up with one hand, cupping one side of her face, her bright eyes regarding him with utmost devotion and warmth. Lance is sure the longing and sadness won’t go away anytime soon, he will carry it in his heart as a reminder — a reminder to come back home. But until then, he shall not carry this burden all on his own, not with his lioness by his side.

Beneath his ear, Lance can hear her steady, strong heartbeat matching his own calming one. He can feel the tears drying up on his face as he lowers his eyelids. Blue nuzzles his face softly again, lulling him into sleep with her heartbeat and occasional low rumbles. More memories of his family explode in his mind, flooding him with bright sunny days spent with laughter and cheers.

His heart flutters with happiness. He can’t wait to go home, just so he can go see them again.

And his mind plunges into sleep, followed by rich, deep chuckling of a female voice.  


Lance blinks awake.

Blue eyes stare at the blank ceiling above his bed. His eye mask must’ve slid off of his face during his sleep. A familiar tug of melancholy makes itself known in his heart. Yet as he sits up in his bed, Lance feels light, refreshed…content. He enters his bathroom to start his morning routine.

He figures he must be up early when he steps out into the empty hallway. He can’t hear Hunk and Coran messing around in the kitchen nor hear Keith finishing his morning workout in the Training Room. Instead of heading to the kitchen for early breakfast, Lance leads his feet towards the hangar, where all the lions reside. In the Hangar, he can’t help but smile softly.

_There she is._

Gently, he puts a hand on Blue’s paw, looking up at her with soft eyes.

“Hey, Blue.” Lance says quietly. A mechanical wirr fills the calm atmosphere as the Blue Lioness crouches down carefully into her paladin’s waiting arms. Cradling her snout as much as he can, Lance lays his forehead against her like he did in his dream. He smiles as a deep purr vibrates in his mind.

Proud, powerful and majestic — Blue is a Queen on her very own. A Queen to follow.

His Queen of the Savannah.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading!
> 
> I hope all of you have a wonderful day, please take care and stay safe!


End file.
